Ester Blenda Nordström
| Ester Blenda Nordström | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
March 31, 1891 Stockholm, Sweden |
| Died |
October 15, 1948 (aged 57) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Occupation | Journalist, author, explorer |
| Notable work | En piga bland pigor (1914) |
| Spouse(s) | René Malaise (1925 – 1929) |
Ester Blenda Elisabet Nordström (31 March 1891 – 15 October 1948) was a Swedish journalist, author and explorer. She often published her writings under the signature Bansai. In 1914 she published En piga bland pigor which was an early form of investigative journalism and received a lot of attention. She continued with investigative journalism and later wrote reportages about Lapland, USA and Kamchatka. She also wrote a few works of fiction. In her girl's book the protagonist develops towards independence, not with marriage as the primary goal as was usual at the time.
Nordström was married to the entomologist René Malaise between 1925 and 1929 and joined him in his exploring of Kamchatka in the Soviet Union, where she spent five years.
"...Nordström began working as a journalist under the pseudonym The Boy and, at the age of twenty-three, wrote a best-selling book that exposed the harsh working conditions of household servants in Sweden. A kind of female Bruce Chatwin, Nordstrom toured around Sweden by motorcycle; hitchhiked alone across the U.S., in 1922 (and wrote a book about it); spent five years exploring Kamchatka (ditto); wrote a series of young-adult novels about tomboys; and, apparently, caused everyone she encountered, male and female, to fall in love with her."[1]